Bathtub cover



g- 12, 1969 w. H. BENJAMIN 60, 7

BATHTUB COVER Filed May 9, 1967 //V VEA/ 70R l/V/u. MM h. BEM/A MINEDWARD D. OER/AN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,460,167 BATHTUB COVERWilliam H. Benjamin, 14002 Eastbrook, Bellflower, Calif. 90706 Filed May9, 1967, Ser. No. 637,244 Int. Cl. A47k 13/00 US. Cl. 4-173 1 ClaimABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A protective cover for bathtubs is disclosedwhich is formed from a self-supporting, somewhat flexible sheet ofplastic. This cover is formed so as to be capable of engaging thenormally exposed edges of a bathtub and overlaying all normally exposedportions of such a tub. It includes a centrally formed depression areawhich engages the central region of the bottom of a normal bathtub so asto hold the cover against undesirable slipping. The entire cover isdesigned so that it can be used with virtually any commonly encounteredbathtub.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The exposed finish of the surface of abathtub is regarded as quite important as far as the ultimate user orpurchaser of such a tub is concerned. If the tub finish is damaged priorto its ultimate use, obviously the tub is not as desirable as a bathtubhaving its finish intact and having its intended appearance. As a resultof this type of factor, a number of efforts have been made to provideprotective covers for bathtubs.

Such covers are primarily used during the installation of bathtubs so asto protect the finishes of such tubs from tools, debris and the likewhich might tend to damage these finishes. They are also capable ofbeing used to protect an existing, installed bathtub during remodelingor other similar or related work. In all of these uses, a protectivecover is normally positioned with respect to the bathtub so as to coverall of the areas of the tub which are normally exposed. In theory, anydamage caused by falling debris, tools or the like will be done to theprotective cover instead of the tub finish.

A number of different structures have been developed in order toaccomplish the objective indicated in the preceding. Many of thesestructures have involved the use of pro-formed sheets of materialintended to fit against all of the normally exposed contours of abathtub. From a practical point of view, covers of this category areconsidered disadvantageous. This can easily be illustrated. A number ofdifferent shapes and styles of bathtubs are in common use. A cover whichis designed to fit closely against the interior of one shape or style ofbathtub normally will not fit the interior of another shape or style ofbathtub. As a result of this, in order to supply market needs, amanufacturer of protective bathtub covers of this close-fitting typemust have the necessary molds and the like to turn out a separate,difierent protective cover for each type of commonly available bathtub.This is economically disadvantageous. It is also economicallydisadvantageous for a manufacturer and/or a supplier to hold aninventory of differently shaped bathtub covers of the types necessary tofit all commonly available bathtubs.

Bathtub covers which are intended to fit closely against the interior ofall normally exposed parts of a bathtub 3,460,167 Patented Aug. 12, 1969"ice are also considered to be somewhat disadvantageous for another,different type of reason. Not infrequently a certain amount of dirt ordebris will be located against the interior surface of the bathtub, suchas the bottom of the tub, before a protective cover is installed in sucha tub. During installation of the protective cover, such dirt or debrismay be overlooked, or even where it is noticed workmen may install theprotective cover without removing this debris. As a result, a situationdevelops in which dirt or debris is trapped between the protective coverand the tub. If pressure is applied to the protective cover duringconstruction or other operations, this dirt or debris may be ground intothe finish of the tub, detrimentally affecting such finish.

In many cases other factors are considered to affect the acceptabilityof various prior bathtub covers. At times these covers have been made ofmaterials which are substantially incapable of protecting a tub finishwhen these covers are subjected to significant physical or related abuseduring construction or similar operation. Thus, for example, a paper orcardboard protective cover is apt to be damaged by contact with toolswhich are dropped, shoes of the workmen, or the like, particularly whendamp, so as to give rise to the danger of damage to the finish of a tub.

Another factor which is important in this field is the ease of use of aprotective cover for a bathtub. Such a protective cover should berelatively easy to install in a proper manner so as to protect thefinish of a bathtub, or purchasers will not buy it and/ or use it. Sucha cover must also be relatively inexpensive since it is essentially athrowaway type of item designed to serve a temporary protective functionand then to be discarded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An objective of the present invention is toprovide new and improved bathtub covers which, to a significant degree,tend to overcome limitations and disadvantages of prior protectivebathtub covers such as the various disadvantages and limitationsindicated in the preceding discussion. It is an intention of thisinvention to provide protective bathtub covers which are relativelyinexpensive, which may easily be installed, which are designed so as tobe capable of fitting bathtubs of a number of different sizes andshapes, and which are capable of effectively and efliciently protectingthe finish of a bathtub. Various other objects of the invention will bemore fully apparent from a detailed consideration of this specificationand the accompanying drawing.

As an aid to understanding this invention, it can be indicated that itconcerns protective bathtub covers, each of which is formed of aself-supporting, somewhat flexible sheet of plastic so as to include anupper surface and a flat side attached to an edge of the upper surfaceso as to extend therefrom. A bathtub cover of this invention includeswhat is referred to as a depression formed in the center area of theupper surface so as to extend from the upper surface in the samedirection as the flat side. Such a depression has a bottom generallyparallel to the upper surface. A cellular elastomeric pad is attached tothe bottom so as to be capable of engaging the bottom of a bathtub.

In use, the upper surface of a cover as disclosed overlays the upperportion of a bathtub and edges of it are, if desired, temporarilyattached to edges of the tub by an adhesive tape or similar means. Inthis position the elastomeric pad engages the bottom of the centralregion of the tub so as to prevent undesired slipping of the cover. Thispad is of such a character that it will give and accommodate debris orthe like so as to avoid damage to the bottom of the tub. When used inthis manner, the flat side covers the normally exposed side of the tubso as to protect it against damage to the finish.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a presentlypreferred embodiment of a protective bathtub cover of this invention;and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 22 of FIG. 1 showing,with dotted lines, the general shape of a bathtub and how the cover fitswith respect to such a tub.

It will be realized by those skilled in the art that the accompanyingdrawing is primarily intended to illustrate a presently preferredembodiment of a protective bathtub cover of this invention. Since theinvention can be embodied within differently appearing protectivecovers, the drawing is not to be taken as limiting the invention in anyrespect.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the drawing there is shown a protective bathtubcover of the present invention formed using a single sheet of plasticmaterial. The cover 10 has a substantially flat upper surface 12 of arectilinear shape. This surface 12 has parallel ends 14 and 16 andparallel side edges 18 and 20. It is normally preferred to locate on thesurface 12 a plurality of ridges 22 in the nature of corrugations whichserve to give the entire upper surface 12 a degree of stability whilepermitting the use of as thin a material as reasonably possible informing the surface. These ridges 22 nevertheless permit the uppersurface 12 to be somewhat flexible.

Attached to the side edge 20 so as to extend at an angle ofsubstantially 90 from the surface 12, is a substantially flat,rectilinear side surface 24. This side surface 24 is the same length asthe side edge 20; if desired, it may be provided with ridges 26corresponding to the ridges 22 on the surface 12. The upper surface 12is preferably formed so that its peripheral dimensions correspond to theupper dimensions of most conventional or common bathtubs. The sidesurface 24 is also preferably dimensioned so as to correspond to thedimensions, including height, of a conventional bathtub.

Centrally located within the upper surface 12 is a generally rectilineardepression consisting of vertical walls 28 and a substantially flatbottom wall 30 which is parallel to the upper surface 12. The walls 28may contain various ridges 32 corresponding to the ridges 22 and 26previously described. The ridges 32 serve to increase structuralstrength while permitting the use of relatively thin material. Aroundthe periphery 34 of the bottom wall 30, there is located a small head orgroove 36 which extends generally away from the upper surface 12 so asto space the bottom wall 30 towards the upper surface 12 a comparativelyshort distance from the lower ends of the various walls 28. On the sideof the bottom wall 30 remote from the upper surface 12 a pad 38 isattached to the bottom wall 30 as by the use of a conventional adhesive.

The nature of this pad 38 is considered to be quite important. It isthick enough to extend from the bottom wall 30 a short distance beyondthe lower ends of the walls 28 and the head 36. It is preferably formedof a cellular, elastomeric material such as a polyurethane foamcomposition so as to have exposed cell edges on the side away from thebottom wall 30. A polyurethane material is preferred for use in the pad38 because of the physical properties of polyurethane, such asresistance to attack and the like. The exposed cellular edges of the pad38 enable this pad to exercise great holding power so as to resistmovement.

In use, the protective bathtub cover 10 is merely set in place upon abathtub such as the bathtub 49 indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 2. Inthis position the upper surface 12 engages the normal edge 42 foundaround the periphery of the upper surface of a bathtub. In this positionthe pad 38 engages the central region or area of the bathtub bottom 44so as to tend to hold the entire protective cover 10 against anymovement. If any dirt, debris, or the like should be within the bathtubin the area to be engaged by the pad 38, by virtue of its flexible,resilient character, this pad 38 will give and bend so as to accommodatesuch dirt or debris. This is considered to be quite important inavoiding the dirt or debris being ground into the surface of the bathtubas various other operations such as construction operations areperformed.

If desired, during such installation the edges 14, 16 and 13 of theprotective cover 10 may be secured in place as by the use of a pressuresensitive tape so as to prevent any tendency towards movement of thecover and any tendency for dirt or debris to seep into the bathtubaround these edges. When the cover 10 is installed in this manner theside surface 24 overlays the side of the tub to protect it. If desired,the edges of this side surface 24 may be secured in place through theuse of tape in the same manner as the edges of the upper surface 12 maybe secured in place.

From a consideration of the use of the protective bathtub cover 10, itwill be realized that this cover 10 can be used with a large number ofdifferent bathtubs having different curvatures and the like because ofthe fact that it does not fit closely against the interior surfaces ofsuch tubs. What has been referred to in the preceding as a depression isdimensioned so as to be normally spaced from the usual interior curvedbathtub walls. The entire cover 10, and in particular the upper surface12, is sufliciently flexible so as to be capable of deforming slightlyin order to give so as to adjust for height limitations in variousdifferent bathtubs, and in particular variations in the bottomorientations of such tubs.

Such flexibility is achieved by the cover 10 by making the cover from aknown type of plastic sheet. Various different types of plastics may besatisfactorily used. Thus, it is possible to use various styrene, ABS orsimilar polymer materials. Such materials possess sufiicient physicalstrength to withstand abrasion, blows and the like. The inherentcharacter of the cover 10, when formed of such materials, is such thatblows are normally absorbed by this cover or the pad 38 so as not to bedirectly transmitted to the interior finish of a bathtub. Further, suchmaterials are water resistant and posses their strength characteristicseven when subjected to moisture.

From the foregoing those skilled in the art will realize how the cover10 tends to meet the various objectives of this invention. Because ofthe nature of this invention, it is to be considered as being limitedsolely by the appended claim forming a part of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. A protective bathtub cover which comprises:

a continuous cover sheet of a self-supporting, slightly flexible,water-resistant plastic material, said cover sheet having (a) asubstantially flat upper surface of a rectilinear shape provided withribs and having parallel ends and parallel side edges;

(b) a substantially flat side surface attached to one edge of said uppersurface so as to extend therefrom at about a angle, said side surfacebeing rectilinear and provided with ribs;

(c) a depression located in the central area of said upper surface, saiddepression having a bottom wall parallel to said upper surface andspaced from said upper surface;

said bathtub cover also including a cellular elastomeric pad attached toand covering said bottom wall of said depression on the side thereofremote from said 5 upper surface, the Width and length of said padcorresponding to the width and length of said depression, said padextending from said depression and said bottom wall, said pad havingexposed cell edges on the side thereof remote from said bottom wall;said upper surface being dimensioned so as to overlay the upper edges ofa bathtub; said side surface being dimensioned so as to overlay thenormally exposed side of a bathtub; and

said depression and said pad being dimensioned so that 1 said pad willengage the bottom of an interior of a bathtub when said protective coveris used with said depression being spaced from the normally curvedinterior walls of such a bathtub.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,571,335 2/1926 Jarvis 41732,575,236 11/1951 SlaWson 4173 2,583,714 9/1958 Darmstadt 4-1733,045,254 7/1962 Cook et al 4173 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner H.J. GROSS, Assistant Examiner

